CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, ORA:

GOES-12 Intercalibration at CIMSS:  The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) has begun routine intercalibration using the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) -12 as the operational GOES-East.  The transition from GOES-8 occurred as GOES-12 became the operational instrument on April 1, 2003.  Preliminary results show favorable comparisons between GOES-12 and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-15 High-resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) in the Infrared Window and Water Vapor Channels.   (M. Gunshor, CIMSS, 608-263-1146)

Florida Division of Emergency Management Requests GOES-12 WF_ABBA Fire Product:  G. Watry of the Florida Division of Emergency Management Office of Policy and Planning inquired about the possibility of implementing the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-12 Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (WF_ABBA) within their Geographic Information System (GIS).  As this possibility is being evaluated, the Florida Division of Emergency Management will initially access GOES-12 WF_ABBA fire products via anonymous ftp (file transfer protocol) at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS).  ASCII fire product files for North America are currently available on the CIMSS ftp site within 30-45 minutes of the GOES image time.  The WF_ABBA ASCII files will be integrated into the Florida Emergency Management GIS in near real-time. (E. Prins, E/RA2, 530-271-2256, C. Schmidt, CIMSS, 608-262-7973)

MODIS Cloud Assimilation Testing at CIMSS:  Cloud-top pressure and effective cloud amount retrievals from the MOderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) are being evaluated for cloud water initialization over the Pacific region using the CIMSS Regional Assimilation System (CRAS) at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Studies (CIMSS).  Further evaluation will be conducted to determine if the MODIS data can be used simultaneously with cloud retrievals from the GOES sounders. (R. Aune, E/RA2, 608-262-1071)

(Click image to enlarge)

Figure caption: The 3-dimensional cloud water, surface mixing ratio (g/Kg) and surface winds at the end of a 6-hour CRAS forecast cycle that incorporated cloud information from seven 5-minute MODIS granules. The clouds shown result from MODIS information only as the cloud physics in the CRAS was disabled during this test.

BUFR Display Addition: A new routine was written and tested for the Binary Universial Form for data Repressentation (BUFR) display program. BUFR is a storage and transmission format for meteorological observations. Before the visualization routine could display the contents of a selected observation (record); now it can also display a selected variable, such as latitude, for all the observations in a file. (G. Callan, E/RA2, 608-263-3951)

Elementary School Presentation on the Arctic: J. Key gave a presentation on the Arctic to three 3rd grade classes, approximately 70 students, at Sunset Ridge Elementary School in Middleton, Wisconsin.  The interactive presentation covered differences between the Arctic and Antarctic, snow and ice characteristics, indigenous people, scientific field experiments, and, of course, animals. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605)

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